Apple's historic designer integrates OpenAI to design connected devices

Apple's longtime designer, Jony Ive, who notably led the creation of the iPhone, is joining OpenAI with his team. His mission? "To design a family of connected devices" that facilitate the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI), his boss, Sam Altman, explained on Wednesday, the 21st.

The event marks a new stage for OpenAI , which will now hunt on the territory of electronic equipment manufacturers, first and foremost Apple, whose share price fell by more than 2% on the stock market after this announcement.

Technically, the young company "io," founded by Jony Ive, will be absorbed by the parent company of ChatGPT , its CEO stated in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter). According to several media outlets, the transaction values ​​io at around $6.5 billion (€5.7 billion).

"The products we use to connect and use this unimaginable technology are decades old," Ive says in the video, which takes the form of a conversation with Sam Altman in a San Francisco coffee shop. "There's probably more to it," he says.

Jony Ive and OpenAI have been collaborating for two years now, Sam Altman recalled, in a partnership that has resulted in "concrete designs." "If I wanted to ask ChatGPT something today, […] I would take my laptop, turn it on, launch a web browser, and type to explain what it is ," he described in the video. "I think this technology deserves something better."

The OpenAI boss revealed that Jony Ive's team had already developed a prototype of a connected device, without providing further details. "I've been able to test it and it's one of the coolest pieces of technology the world has ever seen."

The battle for generative AI is largely being fought in the realm of its everyday use, which would be facilitated by next-generation devices.

The major players in generative AI have quickly rolled out their digital assistants in the form of applications accessible on smartphones, but have not yet offered a device designed with artificial intelligence in mind.

At the end of February, Amazon unveiled a modernized version of its Alexa voice assistant, dubbed Alexa+ and powered by AI, primarily intended for connected devices, primarily in the home, such as speakers and smart TVs.

In April 2024, the young company Humane launched its "AI Pin," a square gadget just a few centimeters on each side that can be worn like a badge or brooch on clothing. It contained a mini-computer capable, thanks to generative AI, of answering questions asked orally, taking photos, making phone calls, or translating words into another language. But its price ($699), considered too high, as well as its capabilities, deemed limited, penalized this invention, which never found its audience.

In February, HP Inc. acquired most of the technology and patents used by Humane for $116 million, effectively putting an end to the AI ​​Pin. Meanwhile, several tech companies have also launched smart glasses using generative AI, the most well-known being the Ray-Ban Meta.

With this contract, Apple loses the man who successfully revived the company in recent years. British engineer Jony Ive was employed by the brand from 1992 to 2019, during which time he oversaw the development of all of the company's major products, from the iMac to AirPods, iPod, iPhone, and Apple Watch. Thanks to these devices, Apple has become the third-largest company in the world in terms of market capitalization and a benchmark in terms of design and aesthetics.

Even though the Californian company has not yet provided a timeline for the production of one or more next-generation devices, Jony Ive's departure is further increasing the pressure on Apple . Almost a year after announcing, at its major developer conference (WWDC), the integration of a multitude of generative AI features into its new iPhone 16, the Cupertino, California-based group is slow to implement them. Apple has also pushed back the release of the updated version of its Siri voice assistant until next year, at the earliest.

Open AI, for its part, has gone from a research start-up to a consumer software giant in less than three years, a major player in physical AI infrastructure with the Stargate project, while waiting to enter the connected objects market.